Brussels residents offered €900 to ditch cars for less polluting transport

Brussels-Capital Region, 1 of the 3 federated regions of Belgium, is paying residents up to €900 (£760) to give up privately owned vehicles for less carbon-intensive forms of transport.

“The objective of this bonus is to encourage motorists in Brussels to give up their car in favour of means of travel that are more respectful of the environment: public transport, cycling, walking and car-sharing.”

Bruxell’air, which originally launched in 2006, is a sustainable mobility bonus for residents of the region, with a primary focus to, “improve the quality of the air we breathe while calming our city and fighting congestion,” says Alain Maron, Brussels Minister for Climate Transition and the Environment.

“This reform of the Bruxell’AIR bonus is an important tool to encourage a transport shift in Brussels,” comments Maron.

“By quadrupling its budget and ensuring that it pays special attention to disadvantaged households and people with reduced mobility, we want to enable all the city’s inhabitants to gradually make the transition to more sustainable mobility.”

Other initiatives which also focus on removing privately owned vehicles from use include the French government announced update to an existing scrappage scheme, “which would provide owners of old, polluting cars with a grant of up to €2,500 for the purchase of electric bicycles when scrapping their vehicle.”

France is also exploring what the upsurge in cycling can deliver to the wider economy of the country, including means to rebuild domestic expertise in manufacturing and production.